Howling

Winds Of Change

"What on earth were you thinking," Korey hissed, once again behind her closed door.

"Korey, honey, please calm down."

"Calm down? Half our band is now made up of werewolves! It's hard enough keeping you under wraps now we have to worry about Jen too?"

"I'm sorry! But Kor, you know I can't control myself during a shift!"

The pause fell over them like a weighted blanket. I wanted to add my piece. That maybe we could all take a break from the band until things even out; then we could keep touring and everything could be the way it was before.
The door creaked as it opened, Korey exiting their room and promptly turning towards the bathroom. She stopped for a moment and glanced at me, puzzled.

"How ya feeling," she asked me.

I shrugged and winced, "I feel like someone tied me up, set me on fire and beat me with a stone sword."

She gave an affirmative nod and continued into the bathroom, shutting the door a little harder than she needed to.

"What's she so upset about," I asked John as he emerged from their room.

Before he could answer, my phone began to ring. Raising it in my hand, I stared at the unfamiliar number displayed on the screen. The Swipe To Answer bar gradiated from left to right, like it was urging me to take the call.
My stomach knotted as I picked up.

"Hello," I asked as I hit the speaker phone button.

"Hello, is this Ms. Jen Ledger," a young woman inquired into my ear.

"This is she," I answered.

"Ma'm, this Dr. Diana Winchester from Grey Memorial Hospital."

I became very confused pretty quickly. Were we not in California? My eyes went to John, wondering if he had a clue.

"Uh, what's going on Dr. Winchester," I asked.

"Ma'm, we are having Seth Morrison transported here for emergency surgery. He requested we contacted you personally about it. He's having a piece of glass extracted from his neck."

My heart quickened its pace as I stood to grab my car keys, "I'm on my way right now."

With that, I hit End Call and rushed out to the hospital.

***

Seth was stuck, staring straight at the ceiling. White bandages, stained in brown, crusty blood wrapped around his neck, the piece of glass sticking out of the right side of his neck. The fairly-medium sized piece of windshield lodged in his neck bobbed amiably along with his pulse.
His handsome green eyes flicked toward the doorway when I walked in.
He tried to smile, but the fear that radiated from him was palpable.

"Jen, thank God you're here."

"Hi Seth," I responded, unable to help the smile spreading across my face as I brushed his hand.
A small trickle of reassurance wound around my heart. He was going to make it, of that I was sure.

Before any more conversation could take place, a heavyset woman stepped into the room, her neatly lined brown eyes cool and collected.

Dr. Diana Winchester MD was stitched neatly into her lab coat, the essence of all I knew of her written neatly with green thread.

She clutched a binder-like clipboard to her closely like a sophomore in high school clutching her textbooks, her solid black stethoscope, draped neatly below her black ponytail, clicking against the top rings every few moments.
Her nude-lip glossed smile lit up the room a little more than the rays of the afternoon sun streaming through the window.

"Good afternoon," she greeted us brightly-the kind of bright that made one think of studio lighting. Made to make things look better.

"Hello," I replied, curling my fingers around Seth's hand.

Seth raised and lowered an eyebrow at Dr. Winchester, smiling a little.

She flipped the binder open, the rustling of papers filling the silence.

"Alright, so today Mr. Morrison is having surgery to remove glass from the carotid artery in his neck," she reported, her eyes skimming the paper as she read. She went on to report what medications they'd kept him on-mostly painkillers-and outline what post surgical care he'd need.

"So...when exactly is this happening," I asked, acting very interested in the IV needle in the back of his hand. High risk surgery. Could bleed out and die.

It all numbed me.

"It's almost time to prep him."

I shot my head up to look at her with surprise, "Already?? But John and Korey aren't here-"

"He requested only you to be present."